


Crutch

by SoshiMariko



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Bad Parenting, Gen, Homelessness, Mentions of experimenting on children, Underfell Papyrus, Underfell Sans, baby bones
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 16:26:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7322374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoshiMariko/pseuds/SoshiMariko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sans had no choice, he had to get Papyrus out of there. He didn't know the next thing about parenting, but he would do anything to keep Papyrus happy. It's not like that would ever come back to haunt him, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crutch

Sans panted with the effort of carrying his brother. Mud stuck to his sneakers as he let his feet drag through the muck. He shifted his grip slightly, as gently as he could, trying not to wake the sleeping monster. The motion let the left strap of his backpack slip and he sighed. He was getting tired. They'd made a lot of good progress and he was tempted to stop and find somewhere to rest for the night. He kept walking, slowly, as he thought things through. 

The back alleyways they'd been traversing were the best way to stay away from the guard. The last thing he wanted was to have them call his father. However, the alleys were home to all sorts of horrible monsters. He tightened his hold on Papyrus at the memory of the last monster they'd encountered. 

He thought it was some kind of dog monster. They were incredibly common throughout the underground, second only to rabbit monsters. The small number of them that had made the whole trek to New Home had quickly multiplied, and they were the main labor force for the city. This one looked emaciated and weak, barely recognizable as the predator he was. However, it didn't take a very strong monster to beat a couple of kids. That's probably why they’d been attacked, with the hope that they’d be easy prey. 

Sans had been walking slowly, trying not to tire Papyrus out too quickly. The little skeleton had been trotting along happily, talking energetically about all the adventures they were going to have. He did his best to gesture and act out his plans, but it didn’t really look like much. Sans made sure to keep one little hand in his at all times. Eager to find his adventure, the young skeleton was constantly at risk of running off. 

Suddenly, Papyrus’ hand was ripped out of his grasp. Papyrus screamed involuntarily, the shriek dying down to whimpers of fear and pain as he hung in the monster’s large hand. The monster holding him was a mass of matted fur and dirty rags. At first Sans wasn’t even sure it was a monster. It seemed to blend in with the alleyway it was so covered in the mud that was ever present in this part of town. Sans’ brain raced, trying to pick a train of thought to follow. Was he going to die? Was it better to run for the guard and take their chances at home? How long had this monster been out here? Could he control his magic enough to attack? Was Papyrus going to die? 

“The kid for the bag.” At the words, Sans felt his magic react on instinct, a few bones popping into existence before he even realized he was doing it. The dog scoffed at the effort and gave Papyrus a rough shake for emphasis. Sans’ hand flew to the strap of his backpack. It held everything he’d been able to take. All of their food, all of their clothes, and the meager amount of money he’d been able to sneak off with were all contained within. Without it they wouldn't make it. 

Panic overwhelming him. “We don't have anything, bud. You’re barking up the wrong tree here. We, ah, we’re just a couple of kids.” He tried to hide his desperation but the monster seemed to notice and made to reach for him, intending to take the bag. At the last minute he stopped and looked down at where tiny sharp teeth had embedded themselves in his other hand. Papyrus, ever the fighter, was glaring at him through tears of pain. “DNNH TOOH MM BRUHR.” 

Seeing a chance, Sans quickly lashed out with his magic, a grimace of satisfaction appearing as the monster dropped to one knee. He dropped Papyrus in an attempt to catch himself. Papyrus fell hard on his knees, but was up and over to Sans’ in a heartbeat. Already weak, it was only a moment more before the dog monster was flat on the ground. Sans quickly grabbed Papyrus’ hand and ran for it. “K-kiss my mass he yelled at the last second,” almost giddy with adrenaline. 

Several frenzied blocks latter they came to a stop, both feeling the ache of bones pushed harder than they ever had been before. Sans cursed his chronic laziness. He gracelessly plopped to the ground, far too tired to care what he might be sitting on. At least it wasn't too wet. Papyrus came over and sat on San’s femur, shivering. Sans hugged the little skeleton, “it will be a-alright, buddy.” He muttered soothing words, trying to hide the shake in his own voice, while he rubbed his brother’s spine comfortingly. 

“I don’t like this adventure anymore,” Papyrus stated in a much smaller voice than normal. Having no good response, Sans just held him, continuing to do so until he finally caught his breath and dragged his tired body to his feet. They set off deeper into the city. No longer full of enthusiasm, eventually, Papyrus had fallen asleep. 

It had been three hours since then and the thought of the dog monster’s attack made up Sans’ mind for him. He had to stop. Turning the dirty and desperate monster's soul blue had taken the majority of his small stores of magic. If they came across more trouble there was no way he could do so again. He needed to eat and he needed to rest. 

Shaking Papyrus lightly, he woke the smaller skeleton. He got a groggy glare for his trouble. "gotta put you down buddy. we're gonna, uh, have to find somewhere to stay for the night."

Papyrus wavered a little as he was set down, still waking up. "I WANT TO GO HOME," he huffed sleepily, with far too much volume. 

Sans winced and grabbed the younger skeleton's hand in his. The last thing he needed right now was to have to chase his younger brother down. "we can't go home buddy." He said, smiling. "it's not, ya know, safe there." Looking around he saw an apartment with a busted out window. A quick peek inside revealed that it seemed to be abandoned. It would have to do.

He used his free hand to clear the bottom edge of the window of any remaining glass, knicking a phalanges in the process. Papyrus tugged at his arm, but thankfully was still too groggy to make a real escape attempt. He did wriggle unhelpfully as Sans lifted him up and over the window, depositing him in the shabby apartment. Sans quickly climbed over and joined him. 

It really wasn't too bad, all things considered. The lights didn't work, but there was no surprise there. The plus side was that they couldn't really make out just how dirty the place was. While Sans didn't really care, Papyrus would throw a fit if he was faced with the reality of the situation. So Sans did nothing to illuminate the filth he knew had to be there. The apartment was really only one room, a small kitchen space taking up one corner. The front door had clearly been forced open and the lock was broken. Sans did his best to make it look like it was locked and hoped.

He set his backpack down on the counter and pulled out a snack bar for each of them. It wasn't much, but their food had to last until he found a way to get them more. He turned to hand one to Papyrus with a weak chuckle, “Here, buddy, gotta eat or you’ll be just a pile of bones,” only to find the little skeleton fully awake and full of pouts. 

"I DON’T LIKE IT HERE!" He declared. 

Sans wasn't surprised to hear that, but he couldn't help the hint of irritation in his voice. His hunger was really starting to eat at him. "i know! but we weren't safe at home. i've, i mean, i’ve explained this to you!" And he had, each evening, as they’d bedded down somewhere like this. As the thrill of impending adventure wore off and his little brother had gotten tired, he'd had to remind Papyrus that home was no longer an option for them. The young skeleton just couldn't seem to remember his words when he thought of warm beds and full meals. 

Sans was trying his hardest. He had four years on the little skeleton, but he really wasn't that much larger than him. At 13 he was still waiting for what he could only assume would be a significant growth spurt. At the moment, however, he was just a short, chubby little monster. He had no chance of intimidating attackers, and had so far relied entirely on blue magic and his wits to get them this far. 

Papyrus couldn’t understand any of it, or didn’t want to. He was young and despite his attitude Sans knew he had to be scared. This was what he always did. He hid behind anger and pride. Sans had wondered more than once if this was the right move, taking his little brother from their home. Maybe there was some other way he could've intervened and stopped their father from experimenting on his little brother. If there was, he hadn’t been able to figure it out. The thought of those experiments chilled Sans to his core. The last thing he ever wanted in this world was for Papyrus to go through those horrible experiments. 

So he ran, and here they were. Sans sighed and tried to let go of his irritation. It wasn't his brother's fault that he didn't understand the danger. He had never let Papyrus see the wounds or the scars that riddled his body. When the pain was too much he'd feigned illness and avoided his brother. Papyrus had never seen what Sans went through in their father's care and it Sans was the one who had kept him ignorant. Taking a deep breath, he calmed down. 

"sorry, buddy. I'm, yeah, i’m just really tired." He gave Papyrus his best smile, which probably wasn't much to look at. "have some food and we'll get some sleep."

Papyrus, still worked up apparently, knocked the offered snacks snack bar out of his hand. "I DON’T WANT THAT! I WANT REAL FOOD! WHY DO WE HAVE TO STAY  _ HERE _ ?" The last word extended into a whine, while tears began to leak from the little eye sockets. Sans froze. 

He didn't know what to do. He wanted to cry; hell, he wanted to scream. None of this was fair. He should be at home with a father that didn’t treat him like a test subject, but that wasn’t how life was. So he was here and he had to look at out for his little brother. He had to take care of Papyrus, despite the fact that he was only a kid himself.

Sans snapped, hurling the remaining snack bar to the ground to join its fellow. "stop that, you spoiled little brat. i'm not happy here either. i left home to, to protect you. the least you could do is shut up and behave” he hissed. There was a venom in his voice that stopped Papyrus almost instantly, shocked at his older brother's outburst. 

Sans had never, ever talked to him like that. Even when he been sick, and he had been ‘sick’ a lot, he had never lashed out at Papyrus so harshly. The little skeleton stood there, unmoving, tears slowing to a stop, and Sans realized what he had just done. He slumped slightly, tired and unsure of what to do. 

He just wanted to take care of Papyrus, but here he was, hurting him. Sans crouched down so that he was looking Papyrus in the eye sockets. He tried for a calming tone, despite his anxiety over the situation, "hey buddy, i know things are, well, they’re pretty rough right now, b-but it's for the best. i promise! before too long we'll have beds and a house a-and toys and lots of delicious food!" Sans voice grew more excited and his smile was a little more genuine at the thought of such luxuries.  "think of the pasta-bilities! just need you to work with me right now, ya know?" 

Papyrus looked thoughtful and slightly nervous, still not completely recovered from Sans' outburst. Laughter from outside their little sanctuary made both of them jump and turn towards the busted front door. They could hear two monster talking outside, their conversation animated. Sans wished with every beat of his soul that they would just move on, the tension in the room making him sweat. When they finally did wander off, their conversation tapering off into the night, he turned back to Papyrus. 

The look in his brother's eyes broke his heart. Papyrus was so scared, and Sans knew that he wasn’t helping. Unfortunately, he did not have anywhere near the energy to fix it more right now. Instead he sat down right where he was, almost dead center in the room and picked up one of the snack bars. He ripped into it like it was his last meal, and maybe it was. If he wanted to avoid such an outcome he  _ had  _ to refresh his magic. Eventually, Papyrus sat down as well, slowly, his back up against the wall with the broken window. 

The two brothers sat in silence, wary and silent until the younger fell asleep. Sans stood up and took off his black hoodie, draping it gently over his brother. He worried that he’d woken the smaller skeleton when he moved slightly to brush some of the fur from the hood away from his nose hole. A few soul beats later Papyrus was still asleep so Sans sighed silently and moved away. 

As much as sleep tempted him, he stayed up, extinguishing his pupils so he was near invisible in the darkness. Sleep threatened to overwhelm him constantly, the last two days taking their toll. At first a glance at his brother was enough to perk him back up, mind playing through all the horrible things that could happen should he fall asleep. However, the third time he found his vision blurring towards sleep such imaginations weren’t enough. He found himself slumping slowly to his left, eventually toppling over prone on the floor. 

As soon as his shoulder hit the floor he launched himself back up, hissing in pain. He felt around in the darkness, phalanges eventually bumping up against a nail, sitting loose on the floor. He picked it up, playing with it while the pain faded to a dull ache. He found that pressing the nail between the bones of his hand helped to keep him more alert. The slight pinching pain fending off sleep. He found it especially effective when he applied it to the fresh wound on his phalanges. Nailed it. It wasn't until the wee hours of the morning that he couldn't even muster up the energy to do that and finally succumbed. 

  
\-------------   


He woke to little hands on his sore shoulder, shaking him slightly, but urgently. Waking, his vision slowly brightened and Papyrus came into view. "Wake up, Sans! There are monsters outside." he ‘whispered’, It made Sans wince slightly, as it was the volume of anyone else talking at a normal volume. He looked panicked and Sans could see a slight tremor in his brother. 

Sans rushed to his feet at the words, sleep deprived mind forgetting to be quiet. He stumbled in the process, falling hard on his right knee. Tears came to his eyes this time, and he couldn't stop a little whimper of pain. He glanced quickly at the window, but didn't see anyone. Gently this time he got to his feet and shuffled to the door, Papyrus following close behind him. After their fight last night he was happy that the little skeleton was trusting him again. At least, he trusted Sans more than he trusted the monsters outside. It was something. Sans’s own mood was improved after the food and sleep, meager as they had been, but he still mentally berated himself for falling asleep. He would need to find them somewhere more secure tonight. He was certain that he wouldn’t be able to stay up even half as long the next time.

Skull pressed against the crack between the door and the frame he heard voices, though much more subdued than the ones last night. He only managed to hear what one of them was saying, the monster speaking gruffly in angry tones. At first his responses didn’t seem to relate to them; he seemed to be trying to convince someone to do something for him. Then he heard the monster say, “If you won’t arrest those squatting little brats, I’ll deal with them myself.” He heard another monster say loudly, “They’re just kids!” trying to speak over the angry tones before he backed away from the door quickly, almost tripping over Papyrus. 

Papyrus jumped slightly at Sans’ sudden movements, but recovered quickly. Sans watched his face close down, the younger skeleton hiding his feelings once again. Relief washed through him at the normalcy of it, his brother’s inability to deal with emotions taking back burner to the threat beyond the door. 

Grabbing the backpack and his brother’s hand, Sans all but ran to the window. He quickly lifted Papyrus over the ruined glass and back into the alley way, quick to follow himself. He pulled the hood of his hoodie up and tied Papyrus’ red scarf in place, making sure that most of his face was obscured. He figured that the monsters outside the door had to have seen them, and skeleton monsters were rare. It would be best to hide behind their clothing for now, even though it was much too hot in the capital for the garments. Papyrus tugged at the scarf, but Sans grabbed his hand and hurried down the alley. They had another long day of walking in front of them. 

  
\-----------  


It was another day of misery. Building on the last few days, Sans had learned to avoid other monsters as they moved through the city. Now, even the most harmless looking monsters posed a threat in his mind. Their progress slowed as he kept pulling Papyrus into little nooks and crannies, avoiding anyone and everyone. 

Papyrus once again grew more and more sullen and cranky as the day progressed. By the time afternoon rolled around, after another sad meal of a snack bar each, the little skeleton was past the point of calm. He kept tugging at his now dirty clothes and whining at Sans about how he was hungry and tired and he wanted to just go home. 

Sans, meanwhile, grew more and more exasperated. He tried to keep it to himself, remembering their fight just last night. Their situation was not going to improve any time soon. He needed to find some way to calm Papyrus down and he knew fighting wasn’t going to work. His little brother could never leave any kind of aggression unanswered. Sans just had to keep his own frustration in check. Something had to change or they just wouldn’t make it. He knew nothing of parenting, but now Papyrus was his responsibility. It was when they stopped for the night that inspiration hit him. 

Finally nearing the edges of the city, they found a shed behind one of the houses with a broken lock. He watched the house closely, looking for any movement around the windows. After several minutes without any sign of life he quickly pulled his brother into the shed with him and slammed the door. 

The shed was full of rusty tools and broken furniture. He poked around deeper into the space, hoping to find  _ something  _ so that they could sleep in relative comfort. Happily, he found several bags of blankets stuffed in a wardrobe missing one door. Looking at his little brother he pulled out a couple of drawers from a nearby dresser and used them to make a platform for the blankets, making a bed of sorts. When he showed it to Papyrus he hoped to see some measure of happiness return to his brother, but the young skeleton’s face remained sullen. 

Sans put on his best smile, tired as he was, and said, “here you go, b-buddy. i made you a bed. you’ll be nice and warm and cozy!” Papyrus didn’t reply at first. Just glared at the offered ‘bed’. Sans felt his smile waver, unsure what exactly was going through his brother’s head. “i know it's a bit of a fixer-upper-” 

Much to his surprise, when Papyrus did open his mouth it wasn’t to another stream of complaints, but deep, broken sobs, much deeper and more violent than the tears last night. 

He panicked. Never in his short life had he seen Papyrus like this. The little skeleton cried, all kids did, but never had he done so in such a raw, heart wrenching manner. His tears usually came from an injury or as part of an outburst of anger. This time, it was clear that the disappointment and stress of the last few days had managed to build up into an outburst like none other. It was like a dam had broken and all the sadness that he hadn’t allowed himself to show fully before now came out in a flood. 

Kneeling down in front of Papyrus, he enveloped his brother in a tight hug. The little one reached up, clinging to Sans’ hoodie. Even if Sans bore the brunt of his anger, said monster was simultaneously the only comfort he had. Sans felt a few tears leak from his own sockets as the wracking sobs made Papyrus shake against him. They stayed like that until the sobs died down into hiccups and shaky breaths. When Sans pulled back it was to an exhausted and Papyrus,, tear tracks shining down both of his cheekbones, tears still slowly leaking out of each socket. 

He would say anything to stop those tears for good. “look,” Sans said, desperate to get the situation under control, “i know it’s not as, um, nice as home, but it’s safer…” he trailed off as he repeated the same words he’d been trying all along. It hadn’t worked before and it wasn’t going to work now. Papyrus’ face was scrunching up and he wasn’t sure if it was in anger or sadness. Either way, he had to try something else.

His mind raced, trying to figure out what he could do that would appeal to his brother. “h-how about this, buddy? as long as we're away from home, i, um, i’ll do whatever you say.” He looked Papyrus straight in the eye sockets as he said it. He even mostly meant it, now that it had occurred to him. Outside of things Sans had to do to get them by, he decided that he wanted to let Papyrus have his way. It was the least Sans could do after ripping him from his home.

Papyrus’ eyes finally seemed to light up and his smile threatened to return, though the tears hadn’t fully stopped. "R-REALLY?" Sans nodded and then waited as several minutes passed as the little one’s excitement grew and eventually got the better of him. His bones started to rattle again, this time because he was bouncing from foot to foot, practically dancing, at the prospect of it. “I CAN BE IN CHARGE?” 

 

Sans laughed lightly as he nodded, "yep.” Papyrus looked so happy Sans thought he might explode into action. He felt like a huge weight left him at the sight. This was his little brother. Now that he knew how to make his brother happy, life was going to be so much easier. “You’re the boss.”


End file.
